Capturing 3D images, images where every pixel contains the distance to a point in the imaged scene, is of growing importance in imaging applications to manufacturing, 3D object scanning, and augmented reality.
As the field of three-dimensional (3D) imaging continues to grow rapidly as an area of technological interest with numerous applications, including applications in construction, manufacturing, research, entertainment, and medicine. A number of these applications require 3D image capture that can perform imaging in real-time and in-situ. Current 3D image capture solutions that meet these criteria are often too power-hungry to perform effectively. Also, providing a novel solution to reduce power consumption for 3D image capture systems is not only useful for current applications but is also potentially capable of opening up new fields of application as well.
Thus, there is a need in the field of 3D imaging to create new and useful methods for capturing the 3D images in accordance with the various application of a 3D image capture system. The embodiments of the present application provide such new and useful methods for capturing 3D images.